Rules

The Hex board is composed of hexagons, arranged in an n×n rhombus, where n is an integer greater than zero. Thus Hex can be played on boards of different sizes. Currently, 11×11, 13×13 and 19×19 are the most common board sizes. The four edges of the board are colored with two colors, in such a way that parallel edges have the same color. On the left you can see an empty Hex board.

Hex is played by two players, who take turns in placing a single piece on the board. One player will place the red pieces and the other will place the blue pieces. The player placing the red pieces wins if he can build a solid chain between the two red edges, and the player placing blue pieces wins if he can build such a chain between the blue edges. On the right you see an example of a win by the player who placed the red stones.

The above rules give a strong advantage to the first player. Because of this, the swap rule was introduced. The swap rule is also called the "Pie rule", since it resembles the You cut, I choose rule when sharing a pie between two children.

Suppose that at the start of the game the first player has the red pieces. Then he places a red piece on the board, in any cell he likes. After that, the second player decides who will play as red and who will play as blue. Then whoever was decided to be blue makes the next move, and the game continues normally.

And with this we're done! Now you're ready to go to Strategy!